1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a slide module and a portable terminal having the same, and more particularly, to a slide module having a biasing unit which is capable of providing a biasing force assisting in sliding a first body upwardly/downwardly when the first body is relatively slid upwardly/downwardly with respect to a second body, and a portable terminal having the same.
2. Description of Related Art
The slide module in accordance with the related art, as seen in FIG. 1, includes a first slide member 300 fixed at a first body (not shown), a second slide member 310 fixed at a second body (not shown) and slidably mounted on the first slide member 300, and an elastic force providing unit 320 installed between the first slide member 300 and the second slide member 310 for providing an elastic force when the first slide member 300 is slid so as to assist in the opening/closing of the first body.
The elastic force providing unit 320 includes a first member 330 connected to the first slide member 300 by a hinge, a second member 340 connected with the first member 330 so as to be reciprocally linear-movable with respect thereto. The second member 340 is connected to the second slide member 310 by a hinge. Coil springs 350 are connected between the first rod 330 and the second rod 340 for providing the elastic force.
When the first slide member 300 is slid between a first position and a second position, the first rod 330 and the second rod 340 are slid in an opposite direction to each other thereby adding tension to the coil springs 350. Once the first slide member passes through a dead point (i.e., point of greatest tension), the tension in the coil springs 350 is released, thereby the elastic force providing unit provides the elastic force which assists in moving the first slide member 300 beyond the dead point.
However, because the elastic force providing unit in accordance with the related art has a structure in which the first member and the second member slide across each other, large frictional forces and noise is generated. As the generated friction and noise becomes severe, the reliability of the slide module is degraded.
In addition, because the elastic force providing unit in accordance with the related art has a complex structure, fabrication costs are relatively large.